Feeding Raw Bones

[Simon]

I have been feeding Simon raw bones but each time I do, the next day his stool is very dry and he whines and runs to chase his butt. Has anyone else had these problems? Any suggestions? I have been raising Dals for many years and this is the first rescue that I have had. We noticed that he doesn't drink much water and have to put meat juices in his water to get him to drink. Then shortly after he has to go out to pee. Seems like he has a small bladder. He doesn't have a problem at all with raw meat, just bones that make his stool dry.
Penda

[RawFedDogs]

I have been feeding Simon raw bones but each time I do, the next day his stool is very dry and he whines and runs to chase his butt. Has anyone else had these problems? Any suggestions? I have been raising Dals for many years and this is the first rescue that I have had. We noticed that he doesn't drink much water and have to put meat juices in his water to get him to drink. Then shortly after he has to go out to pee. Seems like he has a small bladder. He doesn't have a problem at all with raw meat, just bones that make his stool dry.
Penda

Exactly what are you feeding and how long have you been feeding bones? What are you feeding besides bones?

[lulusmom]

Has he had his anal glands expressed. Sometimes they become impacted and it is quite painful if the dog has a bowel movement, especially a dry one. I don't know if your rescue has been neutered but unaltered dogs are also prone to perianal adenomas which are very painful as well.

If the dog is constipated, try some canned pumpkin. Make sure it is the plain pumpkin with nothing added. You can also use a rectal thermometer and wiggle things around a bit to loosen it up. I also heard that you can use a turkey baster to give a warm water enema.

[Simon]

I feed Simon other raw meats plus canned meat. He is neutered and only has these bowel movements when he eats bones. He loves them and it really occupies his time so I want to continue feeding them to him. This is also a dog that doesn't drink a lot of water. I take soup broth and add it to his water to make him drink. Last time I gave him a bone I gave him broth plus a tablespoon of olive oil before and after the bone. His stool was still very dry but he didn't have trouble or cry out in pain. I never heard of pumpkin for constipation but will try it.

[RawFedDogs]

I feed Simon other raw meats plus canned meat.

I'm still not sure what he eats. This is important. What meats? Are they meat only or a meaty bone? An animal part or a patty of some sort?

He is neutered and only has these bowel movements when he eats bones.

What kind of bones exactly? Meaty bones or bare bones? Bones from what kind of animal? Whole bones or ground bone?

He loves them and it really occupies his time so I want to continue feeding them to him.

I'm sure you will be able to but I need more information now.

This is also a dog that doesn't drink a lot of water.

If you are feeding raw meat plus canned meat, he is getting plenty of water. Regular meat is 70% water. Canned meat has a lot of water also. If he is thirsty he will drink.

I take soup broth and add it to his water to make him drink. Last time I gave him a bone I gave him broth plus a tablespoon of olive oil before and after the bone.

No need to do that. He is getting plenty of water.

His stool was still very dry but he didn't have trouble or cry out in pain. I never heard of pumpkin for constipation but will try it.

White powdery dry stools are a symptom of too much bone in the diet. Don't use the pumpkin as you are masking the symptoms you need to see to get the bone adjusted in his diet.

I need to know exactly what he eats. meat, canned meat, bone is not nearly enough information. I need to know what kind of meat, how much you are feeding, how much canned dog food, and what kind of bone, in what form and how much you are feeding. Is he a puppy or a full grown dog?

[lulusmom]

It's true that if a dog is thirsty he will drink but some dogs truly do not drink enough water. When a dog doesn't drink enough, the urine is highly concentrated and PH is high which creates a breeding ground for urinary stones. I feed all my dogs raw but I add chicken broth to one bowl for my little girl as she has Cushing's, has had two bladder stone surgeries and is spilling protein in her urine. If your dog's pee is normal in color then I wouldn't worry about it but if it's very dark yellow or orange, then he's probably not getting enough water. Unfortunately, my dogs ate commercial crap and were vaccinated every year for the first five years of their lives so who the heck knows what damage was done. Don't take anything for granted and don't take any advice from people that don't know your dog's history.

If your dog can't poop, don't let him suffer....give him plain pumpkin. I learned this a long time ago when doing research on the raw diet. If you Google raw food and constipation, you'll find that most raw food sites recommend the pumpkin. Just make sure it's pure pumpkin. You'll also see that RawFedDogs is correct that too much bone will cause constipation.

[Simon]

We think Simon may have been trained not to drink water when house broken or it may have been withheld. He is a rescue and we got him when he was 2 1/2. We have had him five months. That being said, and we don't know his "spotted (Dalmatian) past", he doesn't even drink water after racing around at the dog park until we get him back in the car, and even then he doesn't drink much.

I feed him Trader Joe's rice and lamb, one can per day, plus Fresh Pet Select, (available now in my local grocery store). Included with his meals I give him one raw egg per day, with raw veggies like carrots or broccoli ground up and raw burger meat. In between, we suppliment him with raw bones. Sometimes they have meat on them, sometimes not. I have been having a hard time finding a grocery store that has bones at all because it seems they get their meat already boned. I just bought an order of soup bones but there is not much meat on them at all. What ever happened to the local butcher shop? His urine is yellow, not orange and they are beef bones. I haven't tried the pumpkin as yet. Thanks for all your suggestions.

[lulusmom]

Just a suggestion....next time you go to the vet ask him or her to do a urinalysis. The urine specific gravity and PH are a good indicator as to whether or not your dog is getting enough water.

[RawFedDogs]

I feed him Trader Joe's rice and lamb, one can per day, plus Fresh Pet Select, (available now in my local grocery store).

I can't find any information about Trader Joe's dog foods so I can't comment on it. It's canned so it has somewhere around 79% to 80% water. The Fresh Pet Select is around 73% water. So, with that much water, your dog doesn't need much more. For every pound of food you are feeding him, he is getting about 3/4 pound of water.

Included with his meals I give him one raw egg per day, with raw veggies like carrots or broccoli ground up and raw burger meat.

The mixes you are feeding him have more than enough veggies in them without adding to them.

In between, we suppliment him with raw bones.

Stop thinking of bones to feed your dog. Think instead of animal parts that contain bone. When you go to a butcher or grocery store and ask for bones for your dog, you invariably get bones with no or almost no meat on them. Think chicken quarters for a dog the size of yours. Every grocery store in the world sells chicken quarters pretty cheap. I would make a meal of a chicken quarter and feed the other stuff for other meals. Don't think of supplementing with bones, think of feeding a meal of meat covering a bone.

Soup bones, femur bones, etc are not the bones you want to feed your dog. They are too dense for him and CAN chip, crack, or break a tooth. I have heard of that happening to several dogs. Raw chicken bones are relatively soft and plyable and do a good job of cleaning teeth as well as being pretty easy to chew.

The problem with feeding foods like Trader Joe's or Fresh Pet Select is that it's real difficult to determine how much bone is already in the mix. I suspect that bone content in both is pretty high and that could be the problem causing your dog to have to strain when he eats another bone by itself.

[Rexandbaby]

Yeah but what else besides chicken? Our Neighbor found a fresh dead deer, and he is fixing it for all or our dogs, his 3 small dogs, and mine.